A review, with pics, of my first Royal Caribbean cruise on the Jewel of the Seas.

I recently returned home from my first Royal Caribbean cruise on the Jewel of the seas. I had originally planned on writing my review while on the cruise but I ended up not taking my laptop and I didn't even keep a journal. So I wrote it all out in word after I got home, that way I could go back and forth as I remembered things that I had left out. Hopefully that means it won't take me long to post it.

Hope you enjoy.

My husband and I had cruised twice before on Carnival. We had two wonderful cruises with Carnival, but I had just started feeling like cutbacks were really effecting my cruises. So we decided it was time for us to move on and try other lines.

I started researching cruises on Royal Caribbean. I had originally booked the Jewel in February but had to move it because of work. I messaged a friend of ours that sails RC frequently and asked if him and his wife would want to join us for a cruise. The May 2nd, four day to Cozumel worked for both us.

So the cast of characters for this cruise will be:

Myself-Terri

My Husband- Tony

Our longtime friend-Sam

And his wife- Mashonna

So now it was time to wait for May. And yes it seemed like from February to May took forever. But I spent my time reading reviews here on Cruise Critic. I seemed to have a million questions and I was very thankful for all the help I got on here. I also checked the prices online every single day and was rewarded with the chance to upgrade from our JS to GS for only $100 more. So I tossed out the printed JS luggage tags and waited for these to arrive.

It was finally time to head to Florida!!!! We drove from Kentucky and stayed at the Double Tree on Rocky Point. I booked the stay and cruise package, which included the room, transportation to and from the port, and parking for our car while on the cruise. The cost of the package was around $200.

Here are some pics of our room and the hotel.

More room pics:

We scheduled our shuttle to pick us up at noon. This allowed us to sleep in a little. It also allowed Sam and Mashonna, who had flown in the night before, also staying at the same hotel, time to run out and grab a couple of shirts that Sam needed. The hotel shuttle was free if you needed or wanted to go to anywhere within a three mile radius.

Our first glimpse of the Jewel.

looking forward to it as my DW and I are sailing on Serenade soon!

Embarkation was very easy. The line to security was not long. I had brought one bottle of wine with me, I told the security officer and he didn’t even hesitate. Or look at it. We had booked a grand suite so we were escorted to the priority line. But we ended up getting checked in and ready to board the ship the same time Sam and Mashonna did, who had snagged 9256 corner aft. I will try to snag some pics of it from them and add to the review.

At first I was little disappointed because when we had sailed Carnival suites had a VIP area and not just a separate line. But it dawned on me that one, the Jewel had many more suites than the two ships we had sailed on so it would be hard to have so many people filtering thru a VIP lounge. Second, this is the ONLY suite perk you get with Carnival and its not much of a perk. So give me RCI's suite perks (which I will get into throughout the review) and Carnival can keep their lounge.

Sam and Mashonna in line on the other end of the terminal

So we took our embarkation photo and headed towards the ship.

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So the four of us made our way up to the Windjammer to grab some lunch while we waited for the 30 minutes before the rooms would be open. We sat back on in the open area on the aft of the ship. It was really nice sitting out there, but this ended up being the only time we ate there. And in the end I did not take any pictures of it. I had to try the honeystung chicken, since it seems to be the official “I'm on a cruise” food. It was good. The tray had just been replenished so I got one of the fist pieces so it was warm and crunchy.

My honeystung chicken with some rice and pasta.

The windjammer had a good variety every meal. It had a salad bar, sandwiches, a pasta area that changed daily, and several different hot food options. I strolled thru everyday to take a peak at what was available even if I did not eat there.

The rooms opened up at exactly 1:00, so we went to our room to drop our carry-ons and check out our room.

Ladies and Gentleman room 1052, Grand Suite:

More of the room

This tub was a little high. Made it a bit hard to climb in and out of.

The balcony was fantastic

Here is pic of one of the sinks. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of it. In this picture as you can see the sink is off. The handles are opposite than the handles on the sinks at my house. So out of habit when I would go to turn the water off I would turn the handles all the way out, which turned the water on full force. Which of course got water every where.

When I first upgraded my JS to a GS I was originally in a room that was more forward. I did keep watch on the rooms to see if something more midship came open. I had only sailed midship before and felt better being there if the water ended up rocky. So when 1520 opened I called and moved to it. Then I started reading how some people did not like the room because of it being next door to the concierge lounge. The concern was how the windows rounded out on the hump, it made the balcony on 1052 not so private. So I stressed about it, asked people about it, thought about switching back, but in the end kept it. I am glad I did, it ended up not being that big of deal.

Here is a pic looking at the balcony from the lounge.

As long as you dont plan on being naked, it doesnt matter. And after getting to tour the bridge later on during the cruise, I realized that the bridge crew can see all the balconies from their view, at least the ones in front of the hump. I'll get to more on that later.

So I explored the ship some while the husband relaxed in the room until time for the Muster drill.

The Cinemas, taken in the dark.

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The climbing wall.

The pool as seen from the Vortex lounge.

Looking down from the Crown and Anchor lounge on deck 13. I admit, it was scary standing on the glass looking down.

On of the C&A reps told us that they will be losing that space as their office after the Jewel goes into drydock. The space will end up being a changing area for the ariel show that is put on in the centrum. So I am assuming the artists will be coming out through that hole.

After Muster, the four of us headed to the helipad for sail-away.

Mashonna and I

Mashonna is a surgeon. She and Sam had actually flown in from Chicago to meet us for this cruise where she was testing for her boards. So needless to say, she was ready and needed the rest and relaxation this cruise offered.

The husband and I “sailing away”

Then to the Sea View cafe for a pre-dinner snack. The Sea View was very busy, but we were able to snag a table outside with this view.

We ended up waiting about 20 minutes for our food. Not too bad considering how busy they were and everything was made as you ordered it.

My husband ordered the Cuban. (note the meat, I'll get to this later)

I got the onion rings.

Mashonna got the fish and chips.

Sam got the frito basket but I opted out of a pic, because well, it just a basket of frito chips.

Everything was very good, and like what many other people have said, I hate to see it go with the dry dock.

I headed back to the room to unpack. There was tons of space for stuff and once you were unpacked the suite cases fit perfectly under the bed.

Right around 7:00 we went under the Sunshine bridge. I had went under it once on the Carnival Paradise. It was just as much fun the second time.

I took a ton of pics the first time I went under. This time I just sat back and enjoyed the experience.

Before I knew it, it was time for dinner. We had the 8:30 seating. On my last two cruises with Carnival we did My Time Dining, because it was only the two of us. I wanted to do the traditional dining since we did have another couple. So its hard for me to compare the two dining experiences for this reason. But I had begun hating eating the MDR on Carnival because here is where the cutbacks were obvious to me. Our wait staff tried to be friendly but they had WAY too many tables that had to serve. They were always rushed, and the service was lacking because of it.

Now our wait staff on this cruise, Leah and Jesus, was phenomenal. My glass never went empty, they asked us if we wanted seconds, and took fantastic care of us.

Tonight's Menu

I started with the famous Savory Bites.

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I always ate a couple of these every night and usually tried the “bread of the day”

I ordered the seafood spaghetti.

Tony, Sam and Mashonna all ordered the Horseradish encrusted salmon.

Mashonna has a shellfish allergy which they were good about acknowledging. Which was good because I tend to eat a lot of shellfish.

Here are a couple of the desserts. And because I did not get a pic of the dessert menu, I have of course forgotten their names.

But I am pretty sure this was the carrot cake.

And a blueberry crumb something or another.

After dinner we headed out to the centrum where there was always something going on day and night it seemed. I loved the way the centrum turned into a dance club at night. Of course no one was dancing yet when I took this photo, but it started shortly after.

I feel in love with this Centrum. I will probably end up saying this several times during this review. The Jewel by far is the prettiest ship I have been on so far. And we always tended to end up gravitating back here.

The last thing I did on my first night on the ship was head to the Casino. I am not a huge gambler even tho I love the slots. If I am losing I stop. Tonight was one of the nights that I lost pretty quickly and headed back to my room for some rest.

I am remember laying in bed that night and was unable to feel the ship rock. In my mind I had thought, “ wow this is the smoothest riding ship ever”. That would change.

Then to the Sea View cafe for a pre-dinner snack. The Sea View was very busy, but we were able to snag a table outside with this view.

That's me (and my girlfriend's legs) in that picture! I think we talked during sailaway on the helipad as well.

Can't wait to see the rest of your review!

First Day at Sea:

I had scheduled one of the celliute wraps at 9:15. This was a splurge. I have always been interested in them but always kinda ignored them. But I thought what the heck, the worst case is my skin will get some extra hydration. So I ordered some room service to be delivered at 10.

This is the room service menu for suite quests.

This is one suite perk we enjoyed tremendously.

I woke the husband and told him to be listening for them, then headed to the spa.

And at this point I realize...I took no pictures of the spa. Which is called the shipshape center by the way. The name threw me off a little when looking for it. It was cool how you could enter either from the Solarium or the elevators.

And now my thoughts on the treatment. It was ok, but not worth the money. The girl from Ireland who did my treatment said that I had lost about 5 inches over all. And I did notice my skin did look a lot smoother, but honestly will never do it again. But I am glad I experienced it once, so that I can say I did it.

After the treatment I headed back to the room to eat my breakfast that was waiting on me. Husband and I enjoyed eating on the balcony. Every time we chose to eat in the room we ate out here.

My french toast and one eggs benedict my husband left me. The French toast was good, the eggs were just ok.

My husband loved laying out here on his lounger and spent much “quality” time out here.

After breakfast we headed out to find us a place to crash. I loved the elevators with the view of the sea.

I also loved how they reminded us the day of the week.

That's me (and my girlfriend's legs) in that picture! I think we talked during sailaway on the helipad as well.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your review!

It really is a small world isnt it? Hope you had a great cruise!

I also loved how they reminded us the day of the week.

Us too...except when it's the last day. Noooo - don't make us go! :(

LOVE the pics!!

While outside relaxing, the Jewel passed a Carnival ship. I am pretty sure it was the Paradise headed to Tampa. Which was neat passing the last ship I had cruised on.

At some point we head to the Windjammer for lunch. Whcih included the biggest pan of nachos I have ever seen.

My lunch

The chicken was pretty good, I didn’t touch the sandwich because the bread was incredibly hard.

Then it was time to head forward. Our first two cruise were on the same class of ship that had this area all the way forward that was in front of the mini golf. We loved hanging out there. My husband commented several times during those cruise that if he had a lounger it would be the perfect spot for him. When I was doing my exploring the first day I came across a deck all the way forward with loungers. I knew Tony was going to love this spot.

Now it was very windy up here. I thought I could actually set my glass of water down, but of course it took off flying. While laying out up here the boat was really rocking. But after leaving this spot I realized the whole boat was really rocking. We had hit some wind.

The second thing I had scheduled before we cruised was a couples massage. I booked it for 2:00 on our first sea day. So we headed back to the room to get ready for it. When we got back to our room we had a gift from the captain.

We loved the fact that our Captains name was Thor.

This was our gift, I am assuming they were because we were staying in a suite.

I did take my camera to our massage because I wanted to get a pic of the room the couples massage was given in. I kept picturing this tropical room that was made to look all cozy and romantic. It wasn't. It was just a small room with two massage tables squeezed into it. So I didnt bother with pictures. But the room had nothing to do with the quality of the massage. Which was EXCELLENT. The best I had ever had actually. When I booked the massage I had to prepay the gratuity, but we ended up tipping extra because it was so good.

Earlier when Tony and I were hanging out on the forward deck, we had noticed there were wall to floor windows behind us. Tony had actually made the comment that he wondered what was behind the darkened glass. When we entered the massage room, we discovered what was behind the glass. Our massage room was one thing. When they finished they escorted us to a room next door, which also overlooked that deck. So if there was anyone in that room earlier..they got to see my water go flying.

Back in the room we decided to order some room service for a early dinner snack. Tony did not eat with me earlier in the Windjammer because he had ate more than I for breakfast.

Regular room service menu.

I am assuming that the MDR lunch was also available for us to order. But the menu was never delivered to our room like the dinner menus were. So we never bothered.

He ordered the Honeystung chicken.

He wasnt impressed. Said it was cold. I figured this is something to enjoy only when you can get it fresh and hot.

I ordered the steak sandwich, When I ordered it I asked for no tomatos. I got this

It had tomatoes but no top bread. Maybe it was supposed to be this way. But I always thought a sandwich usually meant a top and bottom piece of bread. Maybe they couldn’t understand my country accent and heard, “ No Top” instead of “no tomato”. Who knows, I still ate it and it was pretty good. I will have to order this again my next cruise for research purposes.

The spinach dip was pretty good.

Again, we loved eating out here.

As I mentioned before Sam and Mashonna had a coveted corner aft. Here are some pics of that balcony.

With our tummys full and our muscles relaxed we decided the our next course of action should be a nap!

By the time I woke up and started getting ready for dinner the boat was rocking pretty good. But tonight was formal night and I didn't want to miss the festivities, so I grabbed some Bonine.

That morning the captain had announced that he expected smooth sailing tonight. So before we sat down for dinner we joked that the waters were probably calm for a Captain named Thor.

I do not have a pic of the menu tonight because for some reason the room steward didnt leave one in our room today, and I totally forgot to take one at dinner. Unfortunately the boat was rocking pretty good and I was still pretty stuffed from our evening room service snack. So I ended up picking at my food, which bummed me out.

I ordered the shrimp ravioli

The couple of bites I took was really good. I really wish I could have eaten more. It must have affected my other abilities because I have no other pictures from dinner that night. I did order the chocolate souffle and if was very good.

I wanted to take a formal picture on the centrum stairs, but the line was always long. I really wasnt feeling good at this point. So I told Tony that I wanted to go lay down for a bit, hoping to feel a little better so that I could get up and go back out. But I crashed and didnt wake up til the next morning.

I did have a towel animal waiting for me when I got to the room.

Great review so far, wonderful pictures, i am sorry the waters got rocky and you weren't feeling well on the formal night, my wife had a night or 2 like that on our last cruise, she was pregnant at the time too which i am sure didn't help the situation at all. Can't wait to read the rest of the review, thanks for posting.

We had booked a grand suite so we were escorted to the priority line. But we ended up getting checked in and ready to board the ship the same time Sam and Mashonna did, who had snagged 9256 corner aft. I will try to snag some pics of it from them and add to the review.

 

 

 

At first I was little disappointed because when we had sailed Carnival suites had a VIP area and not just a separate line. But it dawned on me that one, the Jewel had many more suites than the two ships we had sailed on so it would be hard to have so many people filtering thru a VIP lounge. Second, this is the ONLY suite perk you get with Carnival and its not much of a perk. So give me RCI's suite perks (which I will get into throughout the review) and Carnival can keep their lounge.

 

 

 

 

Please do post pictures of 9256. We have that on the Brillance on the NE/Canada trip!

Tampa should have had a separate area for suite guests that provided drinks and snacks.

Thank you for the review and the photos.

Keith

Please do post pictures of 9256. We have that on the Brillance on the NE/Canada trip!

 

Tampa should have had a separate area for suite guests that provided drinks and snacks.

"TDMULLINS"

Thank you for all the Pictures. Glad you enjoyed the RCCL. we just came back from a GS on the AOS. hard to get back to the real world.

we are in the 9256 on brilliance next year for a b2b2b. So we would be interested in any pictures as well.:):)

Small world esp. when you Cruise.:)

"TDMULLINS"

 

Thank you for all the Pictures. Glad you enjoyed the RCCL. we just came back from a GS on the AOS. hard to get back to the real world.

 

we are in the 9256 on brilliance next year for a b2b2b. So we would be interested in any pictures as well.:):)

She already posted the pictures from the balcony of 9256. My wife and I were the ones in 9256 on this particular cruise. We didn't take any pictures of cabin itself because it's identical to other balcony rooms. It was hard to take a "good" picture of the balcony just because of the layout. But, let me assure it was wonderful. There was 2 chairs, a small cocktail table and 2 recliners. I would say there was about 10 x 16 usable space. They was enough space that we joked we could of setup one of those small kiddie pools. Plus, due to the angle of the back of the ship you get direct sun all day. It was wonderful.

My wife and I had never sailed in a aft cabin, but were hooked now. My only issue was that I had to take the coat hangers out of the closet on the last night of the cruise. The subtle vibration of the engines caused them to rattle against the closet door without the weight of clothes on them.

Thanks for the great review!! Great Pictures!!

We have LOVED all the Radiance Class ships, but the Jewel is our all-time favorite.

I see you're doing the Enchantment next. It's a little smaller than Jewel and with less Glass, but also a great ship.

Anxious to hear/read the rest of your review.

Enjoying your great review. :)